Dispelling Neurophobia Through Podcasting: The Neurophilia Podcast
Nupur Goel1, A. Blake Buletko2
1Mass General Brigham, 2Cleveland Clinic
Objective:

To describe the impact of the Neurophilia Podcast in increasing awareness of neurology amongst young trainees and bridging the gap with other medical specialties.

Background:

Neurophobia or “the fear of clinical neurology” is a well-studied phenomenon experienced by early medical trainees due to the complexity of neuroanatomy and lack of clinical exposure. The Neurophilia Podcast was created to help bridge the gap between practitioner and learner. Through conversational interviews, our aim is threefold: 1) increase awareness of neurology as a career and 2) engage in dialogue with non-neurologists to increase understanding of neurology with hopes of 3) dispelling neurophobia in the medical community.  

Design/Methods:
We performed an extensive review of our podcast software (Buzzsprout) and primary social media platform (Twitter) to determine our audience size, demographics, and level of engagement. We also conducted post-interview surveys with our guest speakers to determine the podcast’s usefulness and areas of improvement.
Results:

Buzzsprout: We have released 27 episodes with a total view count of 6,000. The average number of listeners per episode is 220. We have listeners from 6 continents, 86 countries, and 944 cities. The top three continents include North America (73%), Europe (12%), and Asia (8%).

 

Twitter: Since October 2023, we have a total impression count of 350,000 with an increase in followers by 900. Our collective media views (for podcast related photos and video clips) were 33,800. Most of our Twitter followers were in the reported age range of 25-34 (59.5%) and 35-44 (20.5%).

Conclusions:

Since launching, the Neurophilia Podcast has seen exponential growth in listeners and social media engagement. To overcome the worsening shortage of neurologists, it is imperative to harness early trainee interest and find ways to dispel neurophobia. The Neurophilia Podcast may serve as an effective resource for medical professionals to explore and embrace neurology as a career.

10.1212/WNL.0000000000210997
Disclaimer: Abstracts were not reviewed by Neurology® and do not reflect the views of Neurology® editors or staff.